Dozens clucking about chickens in city limits

Newborn chicks huddle together under a heating lamp in Sterling's Bomgaars. Dozens of Sterling residents are looking to allow hens to be raised in city limits. (David Martinez / Sterling Journal-Advocate)

STERLING — Just one month ago, it'd be safe to say that most Sterling residents could give their opinion on allowing people to keep chickens in city limits with a grunt, a shrug or a vacant stare.

But ever since a group of interested residents addressed the Sterling City Council and the Sterling Planning Commission March 28 and April 3, respectively, the issue has created a fracas among a growing group of followers.

"We're in a rural community. We should be willing to support that system of agriculture," said Denise Bradshaw, the Sterling resident who's spearheaded the effort to bring chickens to the city.

Bradshaw has met with city officials, spoken with clerks in neighboring communities and gotten the word out about the issue since early March. A Facebook group she created, "NE Colorado City Chicken," ballooned to about 80 members in its first week and currently sits at 108 members.

"I think more want to join, but a lot of people don't want to be in the spotlight," she said.

Bradshaw grew up around chickens, raising them with family members in a small Missouri town. She moved to a larger town of about 2,000 in Nebraska, where she also raised chickens, before coming to Sterling seven years ago.

She said she loves it here, but having a yard big enough, raising chickens is the one thing she misses. In seven years, this is the first time she's had enough time of her own to advocate the issue.

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"I didn't know anyone else had an interest," said Sterling resident Mark Crane, an advocate who attended the April planning commission meeting.

He said he would like to see local chickens for the community aspect - having people share farm fresh eggs, as he's done since he was a kid - and to strike an agricultural interest in kids.

Bradshaw added that she thought raising chickens and producing one's own eggs would also promote a level of self-reliance.

And both advocates, who also promote home gardens, praise the fowl's ability to eat bugs and pests while aerating and fertilizing the soil.

But allowing chickens in city limits is far from a universally praised ordeal. Some planning commission members seemed less than thrilled at the idea of allowing birds anywhere near other properties during their last meeting. Commission members Clarence Gertner and Maxine Dennington, for example, questioned how the city could regulate the birds and what it would cost.

Nationwide, some have even created protest groups, according to a February article from The Atlantic, citing concerns with noise, smell, potential health risks and the fact that chicken coops can be eyesores.

And if the city did change its ordinances, the process wouldn't be simple. Bradshaw and other advocates would have to file a $175 requested text amendment to change the definition of chickens and otherwise regulate how many chickens residents could own, what they would need to do to keep them on their properties and which properties would be allowed to keep them.

The city council told Bradshaw and a group during their March 28 meeting that they "don't have to reinvent the wheel," since several Colorado communities already allow chickens in city limits.

But each community that allows them has unique standards and guidelines for ownership.

Fort Morgan and Fort Collins allow up to six chickens per household, though Fort Collins requires coops (with two square feet per chicken) be set 15 feet away from property lines, according to their ordinances.

The city of Greeley said they allow about a chicken per tenth of an acre of land, as well as a dedicated backyard space to keep them. Denver chicken owners need a livestock permit.

Loveland, unlike many other municipalities, allows roosters.

Brush and Julesburg don't allow chickens at all, though Brush city officials are "working on it," according to the Clerk's Office.

Bradshaw said she already has a relative consensus on some issues, such as the number of chickens allowed (between four and six). She also doesn't see her group requesting roosters or chicken slaughter in city limits, and thinks hens could just be allowed in low or medium residential areas.

But she did take issue with the smell complaint, though, noting the distinct manure odor that wafts in on warm days from fields outside of town anyway.

Bradshaw also agreed that hens make noise, especially if they lay an egg or "squabble" with each other, but said four or five shouldn't create a nuisance outside of 10 or 15 feet.

Still, she said she and a handful of other supporters were still looking into the regulation issues, and there might not be a resolution this year. The group is taking their time, trying to gather support and hoping to get things to the planning commission and the city council right the first time.

"I want to get feedback first," she said. "I want them on board with my plan."

RE-1 Valley School District has announced its policy for determining eligibility of children who may receive free and reduced price meals served under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program.
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